Prophet
by Sweet September Storm
Summary: "These are the words of Micaiah son of Imlah, prophet of the LORD in the years of the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and Ahab, the accursed king of Israel." An expanded re-imagining of I Kings 22.


{**I Kings 22**}

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><p><em>These are the words of Micaiah son of Imlah, prophet of the LORD in the years of the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and Ahab, the accursed king of Israel.<em>

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><p>"Hear me, all you people! Mark my words, you scattered tribes of Israel! Gird yourselves like men and listen, for this is the word of the LORD. I am the prophet Micaiah son of Imlah, and I speak the truth.<p>

In the year that the accursed Ahab rode out against the king of Aram, I was sitting at the gates of the city of Amon when I heard the voice of the LORD. Its sound was like the sound of many waters and the clashing of many armies in battle. When I heard it, I covered my head and fell face down in the dust. But as soon as I had hidden my eyes, the soul of my self was picked up from the ground and placed on the wings of a Spirit. Truly I knew then that it was the LORD, so I feared for my life and pleaded with the Spirit to turn away from me. Then the Spirit spoke these words:

'_Micaiah son of Imlah, I have chosen you to deliver this warning to Ahab son of Omri, for he is going to inquire of Me before the sun has set this day. I am going to show the eyes of your spirit very great wonders, and from this hour henceforth you will be a vessel consecrated to Me, a bondservant whose ear I have pierced with My own Hand. You will have no place among men; you will be treated shamefully and your message will be spit upon. Your life will be considered worthless by many, and Ahab son of Omri will further provoke me to anger by taking it from you. But I Myself will be the Power in your words and in your spirit, and your name for Me will be the One Who Is My Refuge.'_

And I bowed my soul low before the One Who Is My Refuge and said, "Even so, LORD, it shall be with me as You say."

Then I was taken on the wings of the Spirit to the vast places beyond the flow of time and thought, to the very gates of the Splendor of Heaven. All was light and glory without measure, and my soul shrank in fear that I would be pierced by the brightness of the Holy Ones, and so die. But the Spirit of the LORD spoke to me again and said,

'_Micaiah my servant, look and be glad, for great is My mercy. I am bringing you to stand among the Hosts of Heaven, and you must listen well to what is said.'_

At His words, my fear was taken away from me and I could look and see what it was the Spirit meant. He had brought my soul to stand alongside the cherubim and seraphim in all their glorious array, their spirits clad in the armor of Holiness and unendurable light, their wings many and mighty, their eyes flashing with flame and adoration. From within themselves, deafening in their silence, came eternally the awesome cry:

_Holy, holy, holy  
>is the <em>LORD _God Almighty  
>Who was, and is, and is to come<em>

In the midst of their company sat on a throne One like a Son of Man, from Whom all light and goodness and terrible majesty flowed. Again I trembled and cast my soul to bow before Him Who Is My Refuge. And then I heard Him speak.

'_Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death?'_

After He had spoken, I heard many spirits of the Heavenly Host come forward and bow before Him. One suggested this, another that. At last, a small spirit came and prostrated itself at His feet.

'O LORD, Almighty God of all that was, and is, and is to come, I will entice him.'

'_By what means, My servant?'_ answered the LORD.

'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' spake the little spirit.

_'You will succeed in enticing him. Go and do it,'_ said the LORD.

All the Hosts of Heaven rose as He spoke and cried out with a voice of thunder, 'Thus saith the LORD! May it be as He has purposed, both now and forever more!' And I rose within the soul of myself and cried with them, 'Hallelujah!'

Then the wings of the Spirit lifted me out of that Most Holy Place beyond the veil of eternity and then submerged me again in the flow of time. My eyes were darkened and heaviness like a fetter weighed on all my limbs, and I cried out to be returned to the light of His Presence. But the Spirit chided me as a mother chides her child, and my soul grew quiet within me as I accepted the word of the LORD.

'Therefore, I charge you to consider carefully what I have said to you this day, for my message was the very message of God Almighty, who is enthroned among the wingéd cherubim in the Halls of Eternity!' So spake I to Ahab the accursed, but he did not listen. Instead, he has made me the prisoner of Amon and Joash, with instructions that I remain thus until he returns safely from Ramoth Gilead. Yet this will never be, for he will die this very day at the hand of the king of Aram.

And so Imlah's son will perish, just as the LORD has decreed."

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><p><em>These are all the words spoken by Micaiah son of Imlah in his final days. I, Shaphan son of Nadeb, write this in my own hand, as dictated to me by the prophet of the LORD. Three days after he spoke his final words, news of the battle came to the house of Amon and Joash, and Micaiah the prophet was taken by the servants of the fallen Ahab and executed. So Micaiah son of Imlah rested with his fathers on the tenth day of the month of Adar.<em>

_All he had predicted for Ahab the accursed king of Israel came to pass._


End file.
